Improved meat safe



i 'gait-eh tates'gatwt @fitta FREDERICK S. GWYER, OFNEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOEv TO HIMSELF AND LEVI H. MACE, OF SAME PLACE.v

Letters Patent No. 1.619, dated January' 29, 1867.

IMPROVED MEAT SAFE.

TO ALL WHGM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK S. GWYER, of the* city and county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and'usefnl improvements in Meat Safes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to meansi for cheapening the transportation and diminishing the risk of injury to the delicate wire gauze ofvthe structure in being handled. Y

I will first describe-what I consider the best means of carrying out my invention, and will afterwards desiga nate the points which I believe Ato be new. The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure il is affront elevation of nearly half of the meat safe.

Figure 2 is a front elevation partly in section of nearly half of the meat safe.

FigQl shows the left land fig. 2 the right, a portion being broken away between to allow room for an edge View of some of the parts between.

lFigure-3 is the said edge'view, or rather vertical section. It represents a centralsection longitudinally' through the end piec'es, top, and shelves when packed for storageI or transportation.

Figure 4 is aview of one of the end pieces, as seen from the inside.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all of the figures.

Al 2lare the ends of the meat safe. They are constructed in the usual form, so as to carry the body of the meat safe upon supports or legs, as represented. B is the back, and C is the front of the meat safe. D is the top, and is adapted to overlap all the other parts.' E and F are horizontal boards, the lowermost serving as a floorA for the body, and the uppermost F as a shelf for` the meat safe. 'The structure is adapted to be readily i taken apart and put together. Supposing the meat safe to be set up, and it be desired to transport it. The screws d are withdrawn by the aidof an ordinary screw-driver, land the top D is `taken off and laid upon the door. By taking hold 'of the front part C, after 'the shelf F and bottom have been removed, and lifting it to the extent of about an inch, the ends A1A2 may be sprung slightly apart at their front edges disclosing the wood screws c,th'e 'heads of which project a short distance beyondithe ends of the front C. These screws,

' which are by preference brass or tinned iron, are screwed in and adjusted with care, so that they correspond in positioinand in the extent 'to which they project, with 'recesses formed in the adjacent sides of the corner posts which form portions of the ends A1 A2. These recesses are covered by plates'of metal a having slots indicated by al. l The yupper ends of vthese slots a1 Vare sufficiently large to allow the heads of the screws c to pass freely. The maingportions of each of the slots al are narrower, and are only of suicient width to allow of. the passage of the body of the corresponding screw'c. It follows that when' the front C is lifted, the ends A1 Az of the meat safe may be easily sprung apart so as to draw out the heads of the screws Vc through th `upper ends of the slots al. .Having thus removed the entire front C, I lay it aside, and proceed to perform the same operation with the back, B, lifting it and drawing the heads of its screws b. from the corresponding slots, in the same manner as has already been described for the front. The ends All andv A2 are now entirely free,.and should be laid on the floor on the upper face of the top piece D. I now apply the shelves E and F, and the entire structure, with the exception of the back and front pieces B and C, is. now'piledin a very vsmall compass upon the floor. In packing the front and back pieces, I lay the back piece B upon the door, and lay the front piece C upon it. These portions are now packed in a small compass; and if, as usual, there are coi1l sderable numbers of the safes to be shipped together, I apply the piecesB and C of. the next safe upon the pieces just described, but in the reverse order; that is, I lay the frcnt piece C of the second safe upon the front piece C of thc safe'just described, and then applythe back piece B of the second safe. One advantage of this constructionvof'safe is that the freight is much less in shipping, whether Aby seaor land. Another is, that the fragile wire gauze, or rather cloth, the material of the ends and fronts, is very eliiciently protected from any violence. It will be observed that by piling of the ends and front piece upon the cover, which latter is strong and capable of withstanding any reasonable amount of violence, and then applying upon the top 'the shelf and door piece, which is also capable of withstanding violence, the delicate material in the ends A1 A2 is guarded'on both sides. .It will be also observed that my mode of piling the front pieces C of two safes together, and putting the back pieces B, which are solid, on each side of them, gives a similar protection to' the delicate' iiiaterialiri these parts. The plates a are held in their places by small wood screws a2, which may be of common iron: I am particular about the material of the wood screws or screwed knobs l c,- because I/wish to guard against their operation being obstructed by rust. So long as they can be turned without particular difficulty,- the extent to which the heads of each of these screws project may begraduated with great nieety by turning the screws a little in or dut as required, to allow for any warping, swelling, or change in any manner of the' parts, as also to allow for any wear to which the surfaces of these parts, and also of the plates a, may be subjected:

The reconstructing of the meat safe from the packed pieces is the reverse of that just described. Unpac'le ing and liberating all of .the several parts, the ends Av1 A2 are heldpup by an assistant, while the back piece B is held in position, and the end pieces vare Vthen applied so as to receive the knob b into the slots a, and the back piece .B is then pressed down rmly until its top is flush or even with the tops of the end pieces A1 A2. The end pieces being then'sprung open slightly, the front piece C is held in position, and its knobs, or the heads of the screws c, are received inthe same manner into the slots al. The front piece C is then pressed down until its top is Hush. The iloor E and shelf being then introduced, the top piece D is then applied in position, and the s crews @Z are inserted. When these are screwed down. tight, the entire structure is firm, and rigid.

I have represented the door in the front C as usual. It can, if preferred, be made double, or can be made in either or both of" the end pieces. So, also, the back piece B can, if preferred, be fitted with wire cloth; but that is usually unnecessary, and the safety of the parts in transportation would be less secured by such a construction. I have tried hook-headed screws instead of round-headed screws for the projecting` parts Z1 e. Many such slight modifications of the fastenings of the other parts may be employed without varying from the principle of my invention. lWhen the top is made, as it frequently is, with a hanging lip 0r cleat, or the like, at the front and ends, I can fill the space between in packing the pieces by layinfar one of the shelves there before proceeding to ll the ends thereon. It will be obvious that a double safe, bywhieh I mean a deeper safe, extending nearly or quite down to the bottoni of the legs, may easily be made in the same manner as above described. The bottom pieces for the front and back may, in such cases, be made to fasten' separately to the legs, or they may be made in one with the pieces which compose the upper safe. Although Il have spoken above of only two shelves, one besidesthe bottoni, it is evident that more can be employed if desired. The drawings represent one more, which is of less width than the full shelf; but this additional shelfcan be full width if preferred, and there may be any greater number desired. It is not important that the ends be sprung apart, as above described, in order to apply the parts together properly. The mattermay be accomplished without taxing the elasticity of the parts, by applying the back and front end to one endiA-Qii-st, and then applyingj the other end to both the back and front and sliding it upward.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure Letters Patent, is as follows: Y

I claim the separable meat safe with detachable parts fitted with fastenings, substantially as herein specified, and adapted to berpacked and transported in a small compass, and with protection to the delicate portions of its structure as herein set forth.

' FREDERICK S. GrWYER.`

Witnesses: A

D. L. FREnnoRN, W. C. Dnr. 

